JAKARTA, Indonesia – More than 90,000 police and soldiers and a moderate Muslim youth group will help guard nearly 50,000 churches across Indonesia, including some previously attacked by terrorists, during the Christmas period.

Brig. Gen Dedi Prasetyo, national police spokesman, said Christmas security this year will be focused on churches in 13 provinces, including on the main islands of Java and Sumatra, reported ucanews.com. The deployments would be to "anticipate" possible security threats, Prasetyo added.

Among the churches to be tightly secured is Santa Maria Church in Surabaya, which was attacked by suicide bombers May 13, reported ucanews.com. Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral Church in Jakarta as well as churches in Sumatra, Java and West Nusa Tenggara provinces also have been attacked.

Francis Xavier Ping Tedja, security coordinator at Santa Maria Church, said about 70 police, military and members of Banser – a military youth group associated with Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest moderate Muslim organization in Indonesia – will secure the church for Christmas.

"We have coordinated with police, military, and Islamic groups to maintain the security, so that Catholics can attend Christmas Masses comfortably and safely," he told ucanews.com Dec. 17.

In order to simplify police work, Catholics have been asked to not bring bags when they attend Christmas Masses.

"We hope Catholics will not be afraid to attend Christmas Masses at the church," he said.

Father Antonius Suyadi, chairman of the Jakarta Archdiocese's Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Commission, said Christmas celebrations at the cathedral will be guarded by about 300 police and military personnel.

"Besides the cathedral church, police and military forces will also guard other Catholic churches in the archdiocese," said Father Suyadi.

Indonesia's anti-terror squad arrested two terrorist suspects in Yogyakarta Dec. 11; the suspects allegedly planned to attack during Christmas and New Year celebrations. Police did not elaborate their targeted facilities or locations.

Winter is here and I’m excited for the Advent season, but everyone who knows me knows that I love summer and I start counting down the days way too early.

The summer of 2017 was no different, but it turned into a season that I will never forget.

I was camping with my dad and our close family friends just outside of Thunder Bay, Ont. It was our third year in a row making this trip and I was having the time of my life. I never thought that it would be cut short.

Two days into the trip, my dad told me that my grandpa was in the hospital. This was my dad’s stepfatherbut he was the only grandpa that I had ever known. Here we were, over eight hours away from home, while the rest of my family was sitting in a hospital waiting room. I remember sitting at the bonfire that night while my dad was on the phone with my aunt and it felt like forever. When he finally got off the phone, he told me that the doctors said that he would be OK. He was awake and talking. I was happy, but felt bad for not being with my family.

Early the next morning, I was awakened by my dad. I noticed my bag was gone and my dad’s truck was packed and running. My dad then told me news that I dreaded hearing — my grandpa had passed away. I was bawling at this point. I was terrified, confused, sad, but mostly mad. I was saying to myself, “How could doctors make such a big mistake?”

My dad and I left the campground that morning to go back home. The car ride was silent. It was the longest car ride I had ever been on.

During the week after he died and we had the visitation and the funeral, I continued to pray and talk to God. Whenever I thought of my grandpa, I knew that he was with God. God needed a kind and worthy man to walk with Him in Heaven and, of course, that was my grandpa. I thanked God for giving me such an amazing man to look up to. I knew that God was there for me, or at least I thought He was.

A few days after the funeral, my dad told me that his birth father had died of cancer. I had only met him once, earlier that summer, but it still hurt. I wasn’t allowed to go to the funeral and I was upset. Two men that I was supposed to be able to look up to and talk to weren’t with me anymore. I was mad.

How could God have done this to me? He takes one amazing person away from me and then doesn’t think it’s enough so He takes another? It wasn’t until a few weeks later, when I talked to my grandma, that I understood God’s plan.

God took people up to Heaven with Him when He was ready. And He would talk to me and be there for me for as long as I needed Him. And right now I needed Him.

I talked to God all the time after that. I knew that He was there for me. I trust now that God knew what He was doing that summer and I thank Him for blessing me with two amazing grandfathers to remember.

(St. Pierre, 16, is a Grade 11 student at St. Mary’s College in Sault Ste Marie, Ont.)

EDMONTON – A University of Alberta pro-life group says its right to freedom of expression has been violated by the imposition of a $17,500 security fee to stage events on campus.

Lawyers for UAlberta Pro-Life argued its case at the Alberta Court of Appeal on Nov. 28. The justices have reserved their decision.

Lawyer Jay Cameron told court the security fee is unjustified and unfairly targets UAlberta Pro-Life however “uncomfortable, disagreeable and unpopular” its views may be to others.

The case stems from an approved UAlberta Pro-Life event held in 2015 which encountered a protest from some University of Alberta students. The protesters attempted to obstruct the event by covering graphic images of aborted fetuses in the pro-life display.

UAlberta Pro-life filed a complaint with the U of A but, after an investigation, the university did not proceed with the complaint. A year later, UAlberta Pro Life asked permission to stage a similar event. The university agreed but attached a $17,500 fee to cover campus security costs.

Unable to afford the fee, the event was cancelled, said Amberlee Nicol, former president of UAlberta Pro-life, who has since graduated.

Nicol, a member of the pro-life National Campus Life Network, said the fee has had a chilling effect, which is why the group has taken its case to the province’s top court.

“My hope is that things go well and our group, as well as other groups that may be afraid to speak out, will be able to express their views peacefully and openly without being worried that someone else’s offence or someone else’s rule-breaking will take away their right to express themselves freely,” Nicol said outside court.

“What did the appellants do wrong?” Cameron asked the court. “They obtained permission. They maintained reasonable composure despite the fact they were in front of protesters. You don’t have to agree with my client but they have a legitimate right to recognition by the university.”

Matthew Woodley, representing the University of Alberta, noted that the university has never deniedUAlberta Pro-Life permission to hold events. The U of A even released a statement at the time supporting the group’s right to free expression, he said.

Woodley said the university followed procedure when it consulted with campus security and determined the need for extra security, resulting in costs that must be borne by student groups hosting an extra-curricular event, not the university.

“The dean of students balanced the expression of views with the financial and security needs of the university,” Woodley said, noting that UAlberta Pro-Life wanted to have a large-scale, two-day event on campus. “The ideal comes with the requirement to pay the actual cost of it.”

Cameron said the U of A acted in bad faith when it failed to pursue a complaint by UAlberta Pro-Life against the counter-protesters, and instead imposed the security fee. He said that although the views of UAlberta Pro-Life may be unpopular, they still deserve unfettered recognition on campus and there is “no more appropriate place” to have the free flow of ideas and viewpoints.

“It’s essential that we maintain that atmosphere,” Cameron said.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which was granted intervenor status in the case, says charging a security fee of any amount is an infringement of the right to free expression.

“We don’t think the University of Alberta is trying to suppress a pro-life message,” said Nate Whitling, the Edmonton lawyer representing the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. However, “the security costs prohibit the event from occurring. It’s the imposition of any fee that we object to.”

Whitling noted that the B.C. Civil Liberties Association is a pro-choice group.

Nevertheless, in this case, Whitling said the U of A — acting as a government entity in this situation by providing post-secondary education — should apply any type of security fee fairly.

“If you pick and choose, then you’re suppressing ideas which are controversial. The effect is to trample out controversial ideas and dissent,” Whitling told court. “Government entities have the right to raise revenue as long as they do it in a content-neutral manner.”

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Finding the perfect parking spot, receiving a free coffee at work or just having a day in which you feel really great.

When these things happen, you sometimes hear it explained as karma or as the stars perfectly aligning. But actually these happy occurrences are just actions of God’s plan showing through in our daily lives.

I was walking home from school recently after finishing a conference call with my editor to discuss my plans for an upcoming column I intended to write. After coming to the conclusion that I would write about God’s plan, I began to try to make a conscious effort to recognize His work in the world around me.

So as I passed one of those take-a-book-leave-a-book libraries, I noticed a book titled How’s My Faith?: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey by David Gregory. It’s about this former NBC news anchor’s personal journey of probing different religious traditions to answer important questions about what he believed.

In that moment, I felt I had to borrow that book, knowing it would nag at me for the rest of the day if I didn’t. Selecting that book changed my day. Not only is it thought-provoking but it provided the solid reassurance I needed from God. In a world of seven billion people, He noticed me.

Both my parents are proud practising Catholics and they are very aware of God’s presence in their lives. Growing up, from the age that I learned to pray, my parents told me about a Tuesday ritual they learned when they were children.

Every Tuesday, when you wake up, if you say three Hail Marys, you will receive a pleasant surprise from God that day. So every Tuesday since I can remember I have been saying three Hail Marys and every Tuesday I have noticed a pleasant blessing from the Lord.

I am so grateful to my parents for passing down this incredible tradition of waking up and praying. It’s something that I will pass down to my own children one day, but I think that this is something we should understand and recognize every day.

My parents understand God’s actions and His place in their everyday lives because they grew up in an era when people were more devout.

Today’s youth really struggle with religion and the Church has seen a severe drop in youth attendance at Mass. So it is no surprise that today, when good things happen, people have multiple different spiritual reasons to try to explain the positive events in their lives.

While trying to research ways that people acknowledge or notice the Lord in the daily lives in the modern society, I came across a quote that really sums up how people need to consider God and His importance in their everyday lives.

“Every thought of God, IS God.”

(Riley, 23, is a third-year journalism student at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alta.)

Coming from a public elementary school, Kayla Mia Adato was unsure what to expect when she attended the Young Disciples day retreat with 120 fellow students.

“It’s my first time attending an actual Catholic event,” said the Grade 9 student from Senator O’Connor College School. “Coming from a public school, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into here, but surprisingly, I learned a lot more than I thought.”

From Nov. 20-29, the Toronto Catholic District School Board organized a series of day retreats throughout the region for students in Grades 6 to 12. The Young Disciples program is a new initiative launched this year to help students mature in their faith through a teaching Mass, guided Adoration and a series of community building activities.

More than 1,300 students participated in five events across the city. Michelle Peres, religion and family life resource teacher in the eastern region at TCDSB, spearheaded the pilot program last year. She said she’s been amazed by the feedback the program has been getting.

“It would be good for the students to understand that they have a call,” said Peres. “The teachers see the hunger and the need for it. They see the students need some sort of connection.”

Adato said her favourite part of the day was being able to ask Toronto Auxiliary Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick what advice he would give to students.

“He told us to really engage and participate in the community and to embrace God’s gifts. I didn’t think of it that way, and it was really good to learn,” she said.

Kirkpatrick celebrated a teaching Mass Nov. 29 at the Catholic Education Centre. During the celebration, he paused to explain the liturgical significance and symbolism in parts of the Mass. He taught students about the liturgical books, rituals and even about his vestments as a bishop. He told stories of his ordination as a bishop and meeting Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and, most recently, Pope Francis.

“We see people on TV or we see them at a distance or even your local priest at the local parish and you might think, well, he won’t understand me. He won’t know where I’m coming from,” said Kirkpatrick during the teaching Mass. “Well, guess what? Where do you think the priest came from? From the pews, like you.”

After the teaching Mass, students broke off into small groups to discuss their role in discipleship and how to take what they learned back to their schools.

“You can see that people who are about the same age as you also go to church and have the same kind of faith that you do,” said Kavishka Gomes, Grade 10 student from Neil McNeil High School.

“You have to take the initiative and speak about your faith. And I’m going to go back to school and try to spread the Word of God, try to make other students realize who God is and who Jesus is.”

For many of the students who attended the Young Disciples events, it was their first experience of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Susan HooKong-Taylor, religion resource teacher at TCDSB’s Catholic Teachers’ Centre, said it was important to introduce this form of prayer to students in a time when there are so many technological distractions in the world.

“When we create an opportunity for students to feel comfortable, they’re really grateful for the time, for a moment of peace to listen to your heart. I think that’s so crucial,” she said.

Peres said the school board feels encouraged by the positive feedback they have received from students, teachers and parents.

After a successful pilot project last year, the number of participants doubled at this year’s official launch. Peres said she had to turn away several schools because the events were at capacity.

SAN DIEGO – Catholic leaders of the Middle East cautioned that the very existence of Christians in the region is threatened, but their faithful continue “to bear witness to the Lord Jesus amid a turbulent world interrupted by mighty waves.”

The Conference of the Catholic Patriarchs of the East reminded young people: “In light of the difficulties and challenges you face in the midst of the current situation in the Middle East, and in light of the bleak migration that threatens your future and the Christian presence in the East as a whole, we stand by you. As we share the same present pain, we look forward to a bright future with your presence, and we assure you that we will work together to provide the foundations of your steadfastness and steadfastness in your land.”

The patriarchs met in Baghdad Nov. 26-30 with the theme, “Youth Is a Sign of Hope in the Middle East Countries.”

Cardinal Louis Sako, patriarch of Chaldean Catholics, opened the meeting and noted that emigration and religious extremism are pressing challenges.

At a Nov. 27 liturgy at the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph, overflowing with young people who shared their questions, concerns, fears and aspirations for their future with the prelates, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan said: “We live in this terrible legacy that we have inherited in recent years. Today, many people want to leave because of the difficulties and pain created by takfiri terrorism and external interference.”

However, Patriarch Younan exhorted, “If we want to be faithful and faithful to our fathers and grandfathers, we must remain steadfast despite all the challenges.”

The patriarchs also concelebrated Mass Nov. 26 at the Syriac Cathedral of Our Lady of Deliverance in Baghdad, marking the attack there eight years ago in which two young priests and 45 believers were martyred.

In their final statement, the patriarchs called upon Iraq’s officials “to work hand in hand to renew the country and its development.”

The patriarchs also met with Iraqi President Barham Salih, who was received by Pope Francis at the Vatican Nov. 24. The president told the prelates that he had invited the Pope to visit Iraq.

Regarding Syria, the patriarchs expressed satisfaction “with the stability in most parts of the country, where life has returned to normal, hoping that this will include stability in all of Syria.” They appealed “to all decision-makers to work hard for the return” of displaced people and refugees, which they stressed “will have a profound impact” on maintaining national unity “so that Syria will remain the land of peace, freedom and dignity.”

In their statement, the Middle East patriarchs affirmed their solidarity with Palestine and its people “who still groan under the occupation and long for the dawn of salvation and independence.”

They also urged respect for religious minorities, adding, “The truth, as Pope Benedict XVI warns us, is that ‘peace and justice in our world cannot be achieved if religious freedoms are not respected for all.’”

It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I was standing in his dining room, watching him make his family laugh. He was kind to his parents and he was helpful to his sister. Most important, he was the same person to them as he was to me. And I thought to myself, “I’m going to marry him someday.”

That was 18 days after we started dating. We got engaged this past June.

Before we started dating, Nathan and I were both a bit hesitant. Not only were we both busy with school, we also just got out of other relationships.

We were still gluing our broken hearts back together when God worked His way into our lives. Truly, human plans are no match for God’s plans. Whether we felt ready or not, we somehow kept finding reasons to see each other.

Soon enough, we were barreling towards something we both weren’t sure we wanted: a new beginning. In prayer, I asked God to give me guidance, to help me discern His will. The more I prayed, the more I found clarity. Being with Nathan was a good in my life and it would bring me closer to God.

So, two mere months after we started hanging out, we officially began our relationship. That was nearly three years ago.

St. Paul tells us that “love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful...” (1 Corinthians 13:4). You know how it goes.

As life had its way, and we felt its torture on the tortuous road, I found that Nathan’s name could replace “love” in this passage. What love was, he was. When I made mistakes, he forgave me. When I was stressed, he helped me stay calm. When I was in the hospital, he held my hand all night. When my dad was sick, he prayed. In some of the darkest hours of my life, he brought Christ to me.

One time in Mass, I was asking God to affirm that this was His will and I began to cry because I felt it. God had led me to the one “whom my soul loves” (Song of Songs 3:4), and he was sitting beside me, deep in prayer.

We, millennials, faithful followers of a carpe diem mentality, are more susceptible to an egotism unlike anything ever seen before. We are smart, but we also make terrible decisions. We are loving, but we often mistake lust for love. We are kind, but we are also cruel in word and act.

As I walk down the street or through the halls, I can’t help but overhear the same conversations about the hookup and heartbreak culture. But this is not the love that God calls us to.

Love is like a triangle, with God at the top, and the couple in the bottom corners. If the couple pursues God together, they will grow closer and stronger.

To be engaged at 22 years old is not the end but the start of a beautiful beginning. Nathan and I still get to explore, learn, grow and live. We also just get to do that together and in pursuit of God. I can’t imagine a better way to live out my days.

(Rivest, 22, is a first-year teacher candidate at Western University in London, Ont.)

Alicia Escobar was 10 years old when Pope St. John Paul II came to Toronto in 2002 for World Youth Day. She was too young to participate but remembers the excitement, and now she’s looking forward to experiencing that for herself.

Now 26, Escobar and her twin sister Patricia will be joining six other pilgrims from Toronto’s St. Gabriel’s Parish going to Panama City in January for World Youth Day.

The sisters have been talking with their fellow pilgrims about what it will be like to pray and sing with hundreds of thousands of young Catholics from around the world.

“Having done Steubenville conferences for the past couple of years, I think this is going to be like that on a very large scale,” said Escobar. “And I know how inspired I was after those conferences, just how fulfilled in my own faith and how I felt renewed with a new purpose.”

Escobar can’t remember much from Pope St. John Paul II’s visit to Toronto for WYD 2002.

“Pope John Paul II was staying really close by so I remember waiting outside the gates with a lot of people just to catch a glimpse of him,” she said.

None of the eight young adults from St. Gabriel’s has been to any of the previous World Youth Days. They have been working all year to make their dream a reality.

“It’s been really amazing to see how the parish supports us because they really, really do. They come out for us every time and that’s incredible that we are so blessed with that,” said Escobar.

On Nov. 25 the group held a talent night to raise money for their trip. About 200 friends and family came to support them. So far, they’ve raised more than $7,000, which isn’t much compared to the $3,700 it will cost each pilgrim, but lay youth minister Nikki Malunas said every little bit counts.

“Our parish community has been so generous and there are a number of parishioners who have continuously been donating to our cause,” said Malunas. “Just having this kind of support from the adults of the parish is more than enough motivation to save and sacrifice as much as we can — and hopefully, bring back the graces from the trip back to them.”

Music director Mary Calderone is one of two chaperones travelling with the group. Like the young adults, she has never been to a World Youth Day. But in 1984 Calderone was a youth choir member who sang for Pope St. John Paul II when he visited Canada for the first time.

“I think our young people have a tough time going from the safe environment of belonging in a church community to having to live their lives in the secular community as well,” said Calderone. “So to go to a world event and really experience the universality of what Catholic means... it’s just a transcendent experience that you can’t just tell someone about.”

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Bruce Lamer has carved a career out of the sport he loves, and he says he owes much of it to the Knights of Columbus.

Lamer joined the Knights of Columbus Hockey Club at St. Angela’s Parish at the age of five in 1968. He played in the KC hockey program throughout his entire minor hockey experience, including AA Bantam with the Barons and the KC Juvenile Program.

Lamer said the KC league was a great experience because it combined two things he was most passionate about.

“The greatest combination of faith and sports is praying for a win and then actually getting one,” he said.

When he graduated from the program in 1980, he decided to come back as a coach before moving on to coaching the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Ooks men’s program and then later the Golden Bears at University of Alberta where he won several championships.

Lamer, 55, now works as a video coach for the Golden Bears, but he still keeps close ties with the KC league.

“Giving back to the Knights of Columbus hockey program is very important for me,” he said. “Helping the youth and working as a Knight, while still doing something hockey-related is great.”

The KC Hockey Club is the only organized city-wide hockey league in the City of Edmonton. Divisions range from Initiation (ages four to six) to Midget AAA (ages 15-17). It was founded in 1952 on the belief that sports teach children lessons that help them develop into strong athletes and adults with even stronger character.

The program taught players to a be a part of a team, along with sportsmanship and the values that come with sports and success: hard work, dedication, commitment and selflessness.

One of the most prominent alumni of the program is former NHL player Mark Messier. He played for 25 years, first with the Edmonton Oilers alongside Wayne Gretzky, then with the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks.

St. Alphonsus Parish in Edmonton is where it all began for KC Hockey. In 1952, the parish decided to create a small hockey league to play some exhibition games.

From there, the idea grew and parishes across the Edmonton archdiocese soon had their own teams sponsored by local community groups and the Knights of Columbus.

“Ultimately watching the kids succeed is the most rewarding part of this program,” said Bruce Fitzpatrick, president of operations at the KC hockey program.

Sixty-five years later, Fitzpatrick said the hockey program has changed slightly from the initial structure developed at St. Alphonsus, but still stays true to the Catholic roots.

The league is now open to the wider community and not just Catholics. All members of the board of directors are still required by the program’s bylaws to be a Knight of Columbus, instilling Catholic values and involvement in the areas of decision making for the program.

Faith and hockey have started to become entwined for many Christian players and coaches, said Kirkpatrick. Whether it be saying a prayer in between periods of a big game or praying to the Lord to understand the Humboldt tragedy, the Lord is involved.

“We take pride in helping disadvantaged kids play hockey,” said Fitzpatrick.

(Riley, 23, is a third-year journalism student at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alta.)

VATICAN CITY – In a video message to young men and women around the world, Pope Francis called on them to provoke an uprising of change by serving others.

In helping those who are suffering, both young believers and nonbelievers can find "a strength that can change the world," the Pope said in a video message to youths for the upcoming World Youth Day in Panama.

"It is a revolution that can overturn the powerful forces at work in our world. It is the 'revolution' of service," he said in the message released by the Vatican Nov. 21.

The theme for the World Youth Day celebrations, which will take place Jan. 22-27, is taken from the Gospel of St. Luke, "May it be done to me according to your word."

In his message, the Pope said those words uttered by Mary during the Annunciation are "the positive reply of one who understands the secret of vocation: to go beyond oneself and place oneself at the service of others."

Life, he said, can only find meaning when serving God and others. Like Mary, young people must engage "in conversation with God with an attitude of listening" so that they may discover their calling either in marriage, consecrated life or the priesthood.

"The important thing is to discover what God wants from us and to be brave enough to say 'yes,'" the Pope said. "When God has a proposition for us, like the one he had for Mary, it is not intended to extinguish our dreams, but to ignite our aspirations."

Pope Francis encouraged young people to say 'yes' to God's calling, which is "the first step toward being happy and toward making many people happy."

"Dear young people," the Pope said, "take courage, enter within yourselves and ask God: 'What do you want from me?' Allow God to answer you. Then you will see how your life is transformed and filled with joy."